#7
Wally Hammond (425 points) FC average of 56.10, FC H.S of 336*. 167 FC centuries
Wally Hammond, who had career overlap with both Hobbs and Hutton, finishes the lowest out of the 3 of them in this exercise. He was the bridge between them really and was the clear cut number 1 England batsman in the time between when Hobbs and Hutton held that title themselves.
He was unofficially Bradman's biggest rival and traded records back and forth for a few years with him before Bradman finally put him to bed. Their test careers nearly perfectly overlapped, which is a little unfair to Hammond's legacy having to compete so directly with him.
In 1928/29 Hammond smashed 905 runs in Bradman's debut series down under, scoring 4 centuries in the process, then Bradman beat that record in Hammond's own backyard in that famous tour just a year later. Bradman broke the record for the highest test score in that series, but Hammond took it off him a few years later, albeit against a minnow in New Zealand which tainted the achievement in the eyes of many. Hammond had to use every advantage he could get to get anywhere near Bradman's overall record, and an average of 321 against New Zealand says to me Hammond knew he had to cash in when he was up against minnows. An average of 80 against India was quite useful for him as well.
His record in actual ashes matches was half that of Bradman's, but 50 is hardly a failure except when being compared to the Don. He was no stranger to the big daddy ton either, still sitting 4th overall with 7 test double centuries, with daylight between him and his peers on either side(Don with 12 and Hutton with 4). Hammond himself was a strongly built bloke and put a lot of power into his wide range of shots. In his 900+ run series(still the second highest series after Bradman's 974) he put away nearly all risky square of the wicket shots and stuck to drives down the V. Never again did he apply such discipline to his batting, possibly so jaded after he realised he could never be in Bradman's class. But he still had an amazing career and has more than earned his number 7 spot in this exercise.